New phone-ins row hits ITV

Yet another TV programme has been accused of conning viewers who were allegedly encouraged to phone a premium-rate vote line after the competition winners had been chosen.

The audience of ITV’s British Comedy Awards are said to have been asked to call up and vote for their favourite show, spending as much as 35p a minute, long after the award was given out.

It is the latest in a string of TV programmes to face allegations of duping viewers, in a scandal which has engulfed all of the terrestrial channels.

Just yesterday the managing director of GMTV - 75 per cent owned by ITV - resigned over the controversy surrounding its rigged phone-in games, while the BBC was recently fined £50,000 over a bogus competition winner on Blue Peter and suspended all phone-in competitions after it was revealed contests on Comic Relief, Sport Relief and Children In Need were also faked.

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ITV’s British Comedy Awards ceremony, hosted by Jonathan Ross and screened in 2005, went on for two hours but it is alleged only the first 90 minutes were shown live. It is said the broadcast of the show was interrupted for the news, but that the event continued off-air during which time the winner of the People’s Choice Award - Ant and Dec’s Saturday’s Night Takeaway - received the award in front of a studio audience.

The recorded last half-hour of the show is then said to have been screened, with TV viewers believing it was still live and continuing to vote.

It is claimed the bogus voting went on for 25 minutes, during which time thousands of viewers could have wasted money on premium-rate phone calls.

Ant and Dec were then shown receiving their award from pop star Robbie Williams before the programme finished at 11.30pm. There is no suggestion they knew what was going on.

But it is claimed ITV staff raised their concerns with management at the time. Someone involved in the production of the show told a the Sun: “It was a crazy thing to do as it was obviously fake.”

ITV refused to comment on the claims last night. But the channel has already been dragged into the ever-widening scandal of faked TV shows and misuse of premium-rate phone lines.

Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway itself faced accusations that viewers were encouraged to call £1 phone lines in its “grab the ads” contest after contestants had been selected, while ITV’s X Factor show overcharged voters by £200,000.

In March, the broadcaster suspended all of its premium-rate and interactive programming so an independent review could be carried out.

An ITV spokeswoman said yesterday: “We have asked Deloitte to conduct a review of all our interactive and premium rate television service programming going back two years.

“We hope that this work will be completed soon and we have committed to publish the findings.”

Last week ITV’s executive chairman Michael Grade warned the channel was adopting a new “zero-tolerance” approach to viewers being deceived and said it would end its dealing with any production company found to have conned audiences.

He told MPs: “If you want to work with me - one strike and you’re out.

“Whether it’s an epidemic, whether it’s endemic, I’m not sure.

“What I can do is make sure anyone who works for me, whether independent or in-house, knows there is a line that can’t be crossed.”

Mr Grade added: “I think there was considerable pressure on the profitability of ITV prior to my arrival which put too much emphasis on premium phone line opportunities.

“I don’t think there was really a full understanding of how premium rate phone lines change the relationship with the viewer.”